Joseph W. Russell et al. disclosed a sanitary baby pacifier in their U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,641 comprising a pair of opposed generally dome shaped members coupled by a collapsible wall portion, in which the two handles (30, 31) should be drawn downwardly through the slots (41, 41) to retract the bellows-like side wall (15) and the spherical portion (16) so as to protrude the nipple (51) forwardly to be pacified by a baby by forcing the nipple (51) through the slot (12) cut in the spherical portion (16). However, such a sanitary pacifier may have the following drawbacks:
1. For protruding the nipple for pacifying use from its retracted position within the bellows-like domed structure (16, 15, 19), the handles should be rearwardly withdrawn to squeeze the nipple through the slot (12). Since the nipple is generally made of resilient flexible elastomeric material, it will be very difficult to smoothly protrude the nipple through the slot. If the fingers of the user pull the spherical portion (16) to widen the slot aperture for an: easy protruding of the nipple, the nipple may be easily contaminated by the fingers, possibly endangering a baby's hygiene and health.
2. The two handles (30, 31) are always protruded outwardly from the base member (20) to occupy a large volume, inconvenient for storage or shipping.
3. The nipple is reciprocatively extended or retracted through the slot (12) and easily polluted by the dirt or contaminants accumulated on the slot (12), which is harmful for the baby's health.
Even though Zade disclosed a sanitary retractable baby pacifier in his U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,481 comprising a nipple retractable and, extendable within a cylindrical storage container, the pacifier still occupies a large volume and will be inconveniently pacified by a baby since the cylindrical storage container will cause a heavy load or bending moment on the nipple to be transferred to the baby possibly deforming the baby's teeth.
The present inventor has found the drawbacks of the conventional sanitary pacifiers, and invented the hygienic pacifier for a more convenient use and storage and for preventing its contamination.